RONNIE ATKINS

INTERVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

The Danish hard rock band the Pretty Maids was originally formed in 1981 by singer Ronnie Atkins and guitarist Ken Hammer. They found worldwide success with the now classic 80’s albums RED HOT AND HEAVY and FUTURE WORLD but although they’ve sold hundreds of thousands of albums, they have never broken through in a major way. In the 90’s they enjoyed some overwhelming success in Japan market but when the decade ended, the band faced many difficult problems and they slowly disbanded from the spotlight. However, they never officially quit and instead they did some select dates in Europe every then and now until things changed again in 2010. Pretty Maids released PANDENOMIUM, their strongest album in ages, and they’re once again ready to rock again with full force.

Hisingen Blues, the sophomore studio album by the classic rock band GRAVEYARD from Gothenburg, Sweden, has officially entered the Swedish album chart at No. 1, trumping pop icon Britney Spears’ new album for the coveted spot.

Read the Roadburn.com review that states GRAVEYARD have “tapped a direct line to the soft spot in everyone’s heart for Led Zeppelin” here.

GRAVEYARD’s second album and Nuclear Blast debut was produced, recorded, and mixed in analog by Don Alsterberg (José Gonzales, Junip, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, The International Noise Conspiracy) at Don Pierre Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden.

View the video for “Hisingen Blues” – directed by Artur Wolgers of STLSKR and produced by STLSKR – at this location. Enter a worldwide contest to win a copy of the Hisingen Blues CD by answering five questions about the music video.

The iTunes pre-order for Hisingen Blues is now available for purchase online at this location. Hisingen Blues pre-order package bundles are now available on the Nuclear Blast Webshop.

Following the successful Marijuanaut’s Return tour of September 2010, West Coast stoner metal legends SLEEP recently announced three North American dates for 2011. The mini run of dates will include New York City on June 22, Los Angeles on June 26 and an appearance at the Sled Island Music & Arts Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on June 24.

SLEEP 2011 Tour Dates:

6/22/2011 Terminal 5 – New York, NY

6/24/2011 Sled Island Festival – Calgary, AB

6/26/2011 The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA

Said Noisecreep of the band’s last live excursion: “…if the band put any more stacks on the stage, it just might have collapsed.” Added Popdose: “SLEEP was fucking killer and who knows what the future holds… if you get a chance, they are well worth your time and money…be prepared for one of the loudest fucking things you’ve ever heard.” Rolling Stone Brazil gave the band’s performance a perfect 5 out of 5 rating while Redefine Magazine noted: “SLEEP, despite being broken up for over ten years, seemed like they hadn’t missed a beat — and Holy Mountain never sounded so good in the process. This was the definitive show of the weekend, if not the definitive show of my year.”

SLEEP split in 1997 after two hugely influential albums. Members went on to form OM and High On Fire. Original members Al Cisneros and Matt Pike were joined by drummer Jason Roeder of Neurosis last Fall for a short stint of reunion dates that floored their earliest fans and converted new ones.

The band debuted with 1991’s Volume One album, recorded for San Francisco label Tupelo. Earache Records received the band’s next recordings in the mail as a demo. The label — impressed by SLEEP’s single-mindedness and unique vision — immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received. Record stores worldwide have stocked SLEEP’s Holy Mountain from November 1992 to this day.

The band then signed to London Records. Their debut album for the major took the form of one mammoth 63-minute leviathan of a track entitled “Jerusalem.” They resisted the label’s attempts at radio edits and bringing in their own engineer to remix the album in view of “marketability.” London balked at the prospect of promoting what probably still is the most extreme music ever recorded for a major label, consequentially shelving the record and dropping the band.

In addition, SLEEP’s music has been featured in films by Harmony Korine and Jim Jarmusch.

British heavy metallers Triaxis will enter Foel Studios in Wales this autumn to record their second album.

The follow up to their 2009 debut ‘Key To The Kingdom’ will be produced by Chris Fielding (Napalm Death, Primordial, Electric Wizard) and is expected to be released worldwide early 2012.

Giles Wilson, Triaxis drummer, comments: “We’re all working really hard to write an album that truly represents the direction we’re going in. At the moment we have literally hours worth of material, and we’re very excited to think that in under six months we’re going to be working with one of the country’s best producers.”

After an acclaimed performance at this year Hammerfest 3, headlined by Satyricon and Accept, Triaxis are gigging extensively throughout the UK while writing new material for their second release. Debut album ‘Key To The Kingdom’ was self released to widespread critical acclaim and is available from all high street outlets and digital retailers.
For up to date news on Triaxis, go to http://www.myspace.com/triaxisuk

Pre-orders for Lars Eric Mattsson’s forthcoming instrumental masterpiece “Aurora Borealis – Concerto For Orchestra & Electric Guitar” (released 15th April 2011) are now be taken at the LM store.

This new wholly instrumental 12 track release takes a fresh approach to the blend of guitar and orchestra for a musical experience as uplifting as seeing the wonder of the northern lights, from which the album gets its title. Whilst the combination of orchestra and guitar may have been done before by amongst others one of Mattsson’s influences Uli Jon Roth; ‘Aurora Borealis’ takes the range of sound and expressions further that what has been heard before and places as much emphasis on each tracks backing as with its guitar work. The result is a highly captivating and listenable experience. Lush in textures and timbres, ‘Aurora Borealis’ comes across at times like a film score; sometimes fast and exotic whilst at others sweet and luxurious. Many moods are covered and all of which see Mattsson deliver impassioned guitar work in his own inimitable style.

Dutch progressive metallers Sun Caged see their highly anticipated third album “The Lotus Effect”‘ set for release on 17th June 2011 on Lion Music.

Those who try to describe Sun Caged’s music will find this task to be considerable. Influences range from progressive metal to fusion and jazz, and atmospheric and ambient jaunts. The band’s progressive blend is going to excite lots of listeners because of its diversity and excitement with “The Lotus Effect” serving up the most potent examples of the bands sound yet.

One full track from the forthcoming album, the 10 minute “Pareidolized (The Ocean In The Shell)” can be heard now at the bands MySpace page – http://www.myspace.com/suncaged

Leading Swedish progressive metallers Seventh Wonder are looking for a new drummer preferably based in Sweden – all applicants should contact: drummer@seventhwonder.nu

The bands current release “The Great Escape” has seen universally excellent praise from press and fans worldwide and the video for ‘Alley Cat’ has now had over 120,000 hits at YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sRDa-xTfwg

In addition Seventh Wonder are proud to confirm they will headline the ProgPower Europe 2011 festival on Friday September 30. Bassist Andreas Blomqvist is currently working in US and will unfournately be unable to make this show. His replacement will be Johan Larsson, a good friend of the band and also the guy who did the artwork for “The Great Escape” and the “Alley Cat” video.

Newly reformed British melodic rockers STAMPEDE are set to unveil their new single “Having Fun” on April 11th.

The track comes from the forthcoming studio album ‘A Sudden Impulse’, which consequently has a revised release date of May 9th 2011.

“Having Fun”, which will be available in digital format only, will be the band’s first single in twenty-eight years. It follows previous singles “The Other Side” (1983) from the studio album Hurricane Town, and “Days of Wine And Roses” (1982), which were released by Polydor Records and received considerable airplay on BBC Radio, Capital Radio and across Europe and Japan.

Stampede are also pleased to announce the first of three promo videos to give fans a taster of their new material. The videos feature guitarist Rob Wolverson, and were recorded during part of the schedule when Laurence Archer became unavailable due to personal commitments.

Watch the first video, “Shame On You” here:

Look out for the official video for ‘Having Fun’, coming soon.

“Having Fun” will be available to download from iTunes and other digital outlets from April 11th.

A Sudden Impulse is released on May 9th on Grind That Axe / Rock Candy Records.

7 HORNS 7 EYES are one of the most talented and engaging bands to hit the metal scene in quite some time. Combining the technical ferocity of Meshuggah with the deep, grisly growls reminiscent of Mikael Akerfeldt and the dark atmospheric elements of Katatonia, 7 HORNS 7 EYES has developed the skills to electrify the younger scene while still maintaining the brutality and musical prowess to appeal to traditional metal fans as well. Now, Century Media Records is excited to announce that a multi-album deal has been signed and will see a Fall release of 7 HORNS 7 EYES’ debut full-length, ‘Throes of Absolution’. The European release will be handled by Basick Records.

‘Throes of Absolution’ features a guest appearance by Jeff Loomis (NEVERMORE) and will see the band touring heavily in support of the record. Fans will have their first shot to see the gargantuan stage show of 7 HORNS 7 EYES at the Revolver Magazine Golden Gods Official Pre-Party on April 19th at the Key Club in Los Angeles. The band will support Winds of Plague along with As Blood Runs Black, The Devastated and Suffer Well. More information regarding 7 HORNS 7 EYES and ‘Throes of Absolution’ will be released in the coming weeks.

SWEDEN – Swedish heavy metal act, Arch Enemy, has posted a free download of the brand new track, “Yesterday Is Dead And Gone”, on the Century Media Records website. The song is the first to be revealed from the highly anticipated album, Khaos Legions, which is slated to hit stores on June 7th. Fans can head over to: http://www.centurymedia.com/specials/archenemy/ to access the free download today.

Khaos Legions, Arch Enemy’s ninth studio album, will mark a return to new, original material, after releasing the Tyrants Of The Rising Sun – Live In Japan live DVD/CD (2008) and the re-recordings album,The Root Of All Evil (2009).

Arch Enemy is currently gearing up for several live dates to unleash Khaos Legions upon the masses.

The day after their performance in Philadelphia at The Trocadero on April 14th, reformed heavy metal legends ACCEPT will take part in a signing session at Oxford Valley’s Best Buy (just outside of Philadelphia) on Friday, April 15th from 4 – 5:30 p.m. The store’s address is 310 Commerce Blvd., Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, 19030.

ACCEPT’s second headlining North American tour launches April 9th in Orlando. Support comes from Sweden’s SABATON. Confirmed tour dates are:

According to Nielsen Soundscan, ACCEPT’s twelfth full-length studio album Blood Of The Nations has sold over 20,600 copies in the U.S. since its release in September, 2010. Click here to read all the “Album of the Year” accolades the album has garnished since ACCEPT’s triumphant comeback.

Blood Of The Nations was recorded at Backstage Studio in England with famed producer Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Exodus, Opeth, Arch Enemy) and debuted as the #25 Rock Album on iTunes and at #187 on The Billboard 200 chart, #170 on the Top Current Albums chart, and on the #41 Independent (Current) Albums chart. In Canada, the album debuted at #53 on the Nielsen Soundscan Top Hard Albums chart. In Europe, Blood Of The Nations entered the German album charts at #4 – the highest German chart entry in the band’s career – and debuted at #12 on the Billboard European chart with the following additional worldwide chart entries: #7 in Sweden; #7 in Hungary; #9 in Finland; #19 in Austria; and #27 in the Czech Republic.

PAIN, the Swedish industrial metallers lead by iconic producer Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY), have uploaded their first studio trailer for their upcoming album You Only Live Twice! Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlWU_kS3hCs and stay tuned for more!

You Only Live Twice is set to be released on June 3 (Europe) and June 21 (North America) 2011 via Nuclear Blast!

Attached artwork and promo pic were both created this time around by German artist Heile (INDICA, LEGION OF THE DAMNED)!

Mainman & producer Peter Tägtgren recently commented on the artwork: “I really wanted something with a Nightmare BeforeChristmas meets Alice In Wonderland kind of feeling but with our mascot, the painhead in it. The artist Heile created what I wanted but did it in his own way. It really has this kind of Tim Burton feel to it. It will be really crazy on a big backdrop. We’re also gonna do some inflatable stuff with our Painhead. Its gonna be our Eddie, like IRON MAIDEN has.”